Rangel's Republicans: Christie, King

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) sang praises to Republicans Gov. Chris Christie and New York Rep. Peter King in an interview with The Daily Beast, released Friday, acknowledging them as “good Republicans.”

“Chris Christie, who is a big Northeasterner, and people only go for Christie because he is reasonable. He says something nice about the president helping out Jersey and now he is on the hit list by Republicans,” the veteran politician said in the interview. “And now my friend Peter King is on their hit list. Peter King, a Republican, is considered a goddamn communist.”

However, the congressman wasn’t so kind to other Republicans. Rangel, who has served more than four decades in Congress, was clear in his disdain for the conservative party, especially House Republicans. According to the Daily Beast, he said they have “done more damage to American competitiveness than Al Qaeda ever could.”

“What is happening is sabotage. Terrorists couldn’t do a better job than the Republicans are doing,” he told the outlet.

The Tea Party Rangel views as no better than Jim Crow laws.

“It is the same group we faced in the South with those white crackers and the dogs and the police. They didn’t care about how they looked,” he claimed. “It was just fierce indifference to human life that caused America to say enough is enough. ‘I don’t want to see it and I am not a part of it.’ What the hell! If you have to bomb little kids and send dogs out against human beings, give me a break.”

Rangel wasn’t quite as hard as House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), but still didn’t spare him from criticism. He told The Daily Beast that Boehner was “basically a nice man, but he would rather be speaker than challenge [the Tea Party]. And the proof that nobody is asking him to support Democratic ideals, but just release his members and not demand that they have this ridiculous loyalty.”